Increasing the range of a wireless network.

[slipd]

Hey guys,

A friend of mines needs to boost the range of his wireless network – the router is in the lounge and it just about lets him connect to his desktop in his room but the signal and connection he gets is very flaky

What is the easiest way to improve his wireless range – is it as simple just buying a wireless access point and connecting that to the existing setup (Netgear DG834G).

What’s the best to take

Cheers,

SW.

 

[Agent0range]

You could replace the standard DG834G antenna with a high-gain directional antenna (6 or 7dB) jobbie which should focus more of the signal in a certain direction. Even though the signal is focused in one direction, you'll obviously still be able to connect at all sorts of angles, but not as far as you would if it was omni-directional.

You could also get a range extender or access point like the Hawking Universal Range Extender. Might be worth also trying a "Flatenna", which is a curved piece of card with a metallic reflective surface. It does the same job as a high-gain antenna (and will probably give similar results) but is much cheaper because its just made of card

Good total coverage around your home normally needs a combination of solutions. I've replaced my antenna on my DG834G, got an access point, and use high-gain antenna on the PC's that are the furthest distance away. Experiment, and if you find one thing doesn't work as well as you hoped, it might if its combined with another solution.

 

[errata]

If its a desktop he should have a look at homeplug (ethernet over mains wiring), very good at resolving wifi signal issues because it replaces it!

 

[sWiZzLe]

I've got one of those wireless usb sticks and have had a lot of trouble connecting to the router which is downstairs. I have it connected to a long usb cable and have placing at random places around my room.
I always assumed that metal objects interfere with wireless equipment but have found the best place to put it (apart from hanging it out of the window - which worked superbly btw), is behind my radiator

 

[NeilF]

You could replace the standard DG834G antenna with a high-gain directional antenna (6 or 7dB) jobbie which should focus more of the signal in a certain direction. Even though the signal is focused in one direction, you'll obviously still be able to connect at all sorts of angles, but not as far as you would if it was omni-directional.

You could also get a range extender or access point like the Hawking Universal Range Extender. Might be worth also trying a "Flatenna", which is a curved piece of card with a metallic reflective surface. It does the same job as a high-gain antenna (and will probably give similar results) but is much cheaper because its just made of card

Good total coverage around your home normally needs a combination of solutions. I've replaced my antenna on my DG834G, got an access point, and use high-gain antenna on the PC's that are the furthest distance away. Experiment, and if you find one thing doesn't work as well as you hoped, it might if its combined with another solution.

Warning: I upgrade the antenna on my DG834GT with a 5dbi antenna. I monitored the result on my laptop and squeezebox. Basically the best results were always with the original antenna, and the new one only gave slightly worse signal strength on the devices...

It's there now with the original antenna back on it!

Hmmm....!

 

[rojones]

Strange, on my Netgear DG834GT i replaced the original antenna with a higher DBI Antenna and it increased my signal strength by a fair ammount. I also put the same Antenna on my Wireless Card. Ive had USB Wireless Devices in the past and ive never been impressed, i find their signal is no where near as good at similar distances.

Saying that the best Wireless Signal ive ever had has been my built in Intel on my Dell Laptop. Which has baffled me for a while because it has no external antenna and i would have thought it would be close to the worst.

With my experiences and ive gone through about 5 Devices with my DG834GT so far i would say make sure

(a) you buy the same make and recommened card as you're router, ive had Linksys / Belkin / Dlink and now im on a Netgear 108mbps card which is the recommended type for my router and it works the best by some margin
(b) get a PCI card not a USB one
(c) Put better Antenna on both Router and Card.

I now get excellent results most of the time, the occasional blip, but hey its wireless, so many damn things can cause a problem its like searching for a needle in a haystack half the time.

 

[NeilF]

Strange, on my Netgear DG834GT i replaced the original antenna with a higher DBI Antenna and it increased my signal strength by a fair ammount. I also put the same Antenna on my Wireless Card. Ive had USB Wireless Devices in the past and ive never been impressed, i find their signal is no where near as good at similar distances.

Saying that the best Wireless Signal ive ever had has been my built in Intel on my Dell Laptop. Which has baffled me for a while because it has no external antenna and i would have thought it would be close to the worst.

With my experiences and ive gone through about 5 Devices with my DG834GT so far i would say make sure

(a) you buy the same make and recommened card as you're router, ive had Linksys / Belkin / Dlink and now im on a Netgear 108mbps card which is the recommended type for my router and it works the best by some margin
(b) get a PCI card not a USB one
(c) Put better Antenna on both Router and Card.

I now get excellent results most of the time, the occasional blip, but hey its wireless, so many damn things can cause a problem its like searching for a needle in a haystack half the time.

Well I have a matched Netgear 108mbps PCMIA card in the laptop, and that showed no improvement in signal, and figures from my Squeezebox 3 showed a minor drop when using the new 5dbi antenna.

It came from a seemiingly good supplier on an online auction site...

 

[mart981]

If one of the ports are available buy 30m or less of ethernet cable and hook it up? At least it's the cheapest

£10 and time to hide the cable away or run it externally VS possibly lots more than £10 trying to improve wireless which may or may not work.

No, I don't like wireless very much

 

[NeilF]

If one of the ports are available buy 30m or less of ethernet cable and hook it up? At least it's the cheapest

£10 and time to hide the cable away or run it externally VS possibly lots more than £10 trying to improve wireless which may or may not work.

No, I don't like wireless very much

Unfortunately (in my case) trying to hide a cable isn't very easy when it's coming from a study, out a door, thru a family room, out a door and into a lounge.

 

[mart981]

Yeah it's a pain. I was lucky all I had to do was drill a couple of holes and run the cable along my garage roof to the back of the house.

Before I decided to do that though I was going to go down the powerline route as all the first floor power sockets are on the same loop according to the fusebox.

I just don't like the uncertainty surrounding wireless, as in; will rangemax routers/cards really give significant results etc. Obviously wired is almost guaranteed, maybe followed by powerline and then better routers/wireless network cards.

 

[NeilF]

Yeah it's a pain. I was lucky all I had to do was drill a couple of holes and run the cable along my garage roof to the back of the house.

Before I decided to do that though I was going to go down the powerline route as all the first floor power sockets are on the same loop according to the fusebox.

I just don't like the uncertainty surrounding wireless, as in; will rangemax routers/cards really give significant results etc. Obvioulsy wired is almost guaranteed, maybe followed by powerline and then better routers/wireless network cards.

You *******... You got me thinking now...

Wire up wall in study... Through loft space... Down wall in family room... Thru wall into lounge exactly where I need it... Hmmm...

Please star your swearing completely
Tolien

 

[sWiZzLe]

Erm, had a thought, why dont you get one of those adapters that turns your mains supply into either a wired or wireless lan?

 

[rojones]

I thought about doing the same when i had my issue's but ive heard a few bad things about those Powerline products, mainly about not getting anywhere near the speed advertised. Ethernet is always the best way. Im starting to hate wireless in a big way also.

 

[NeilF]

I thought about doing the same when i had my issue's but ive heard a few bad things about those Powerline products, mainly about not getting anywhere near the speed advertised. Ethernet is always the best way. Im starting to hate wireless in a big way also.

I believe they have to plug directly into sockets etc (ie: not extension leads)... Which is a bit of a pain...

The main thing is they tend to be stable from what I understand... ie: Their speed doesn't fluctuate much...